“I want to believe” sentiments on “X-Files” posters are no substitute for proof. And when it comes to hard evidence, a hunk of unusual metal might be as good as it gets in the world of UFO investigations.

Scientists who have examined the mysterious metal often referred to as “metamaterial” can’t explain how it was made. They say it has extremely thin layers of bismuth and magnesium.

“The structure and composition of these materials are not from any known existing military or commercial application,” To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science COO Steve Justice told the world in a press release.

Speculation that the piece is from an alien spacecraft remain unsubstantiated. Some reports say it came off an alien craft that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Others say a missile or a lightning strike broke it off. More speculation puts the metal at the center of time-travel research, with properties that allow movement with very little energy required. That’s a technology that would change the world.

Skeptics say it is ordinary industrial slag.

But the chance to move beyond speculation could be near. George Knapp reported in 2018 that metamaterials are on a list of more than 30 subjects the government has studied.

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